Lawsuits fly over Chinese copycat claims

Chinese companies are being accused of copying Western car designs.

Lawsuits fly over Chinese copycat claims

Car companies forging closer ties with emerging industrial giant China are now facing the flipside of what was hoped to be a profitable marriage: claims and counterclaims of industrial piracy.

Honda is the latest company to accuse a Chinese company of being a copycat. The Japanese maker has headed off to the courts over a Chinese car, Shuanghuan Auto's "Laibao S-RV", which Honda considers to be a rip-off of its popular CR-V light-duty off-roader.

Honda has lodged a claim with Beijing Higher People's Court arguing Shuanghuan Auto has infringed its intellectual property, including patents.

But now, in an audacious legal countermove, Shuanghuan Auto has slapped a lawsuit on Honda, alleging the Japanese giant had copied the Chinese vehicle.

According to intellectual property lawyers Rouse & Co International, representing Honda, Shuanghuan counterclaims that while it was conducting market research into its Laibao SR-V, Honda engaged in activities that resulted in delays to the finalisation of Shuanghuan's own design and production of its domestic S-RV.

The Chinese car bears a striking resemblance to the Honda CR-V. The body, doors and glazing are similarly shaped. The headlights and bumper are similar, too.

It is unlikely Honda will contest the grille emblem on Laibao S-RV – that's because it looks like two rings from Audi's signature four-ring emblem. Unlike the Honda, the S-RV is only two-wheel-drive.

The president of Honda Automobile China, Hironori Kanayama, was reported as saying: "We can't stand by and see our worldwide quality compromised by copies."

A Shuanghuan Auto spokesperson said it was not unusual for cars to look alike.

It's not the only case of a Chinese car bearing a remarkable similarity to cars conceived by foreign automakers.

The Age's China correspondent reported from the recent Beijing car show that GM is frustrated that its Chinese joint-venture partner is an investor in the Chery Automobile Company, which has produced a car with striking similarity to one of GM's.

The GM Chevrolet Spark, (known as the Daewoo Matiz in Australia), which sells in China for 39,000 yuan ($A6725), is being undercut by 50 percent by the similar-looking Chery QQ.

"It does look similar. But it is the result of our own independent development and technology," The Age report quoted a Chery salesman at the stand saying.

GM is reportedly hesitant to take its Chinese partners to court. The record of foreign companies arguing intellectual property infractions is not good. Toyota initiated actions against designs that bore a resemblance too close to its own but lost.

Chinese whispers China's Chery Automobile Company's light car, the Chery QQ, bears a striking resemblance to General Motors' Chevrolet Spark (right), sold in the same market.

The Chery is about half the price of the GM car. GM's joint venture partner in the Spark, Shanghai Automobile Industry Corp, was an investor in Chery.

Under the grille DaimlerChrysler and General Motors locked horns over an alleged trademark violation over the similarity in grille designs.

In 2001, DC launched legal action against GM, arguing the General's Hummer H2 grille too closely resembled the seven-slot grille on Jeeps, for which DC has a trademark.

The Hummer's contentious design came to light after an independent market research firm found two-thirds of Jeep owners mistook the new-look Hummer H2 for a Jeep.

The lawsuit asked the US courts to block Hummer's use of the grille design, recall any vehicles that had been fitted with it and pay damages to DC. General Motors successfully defended the suit.

The forthcoming 2005 models from the two retain a similarity in frontal treatment.